Warren Joyce sticks to guns about Bruno Fornaroli despite dry run

Melbourne City will continue their search for a scoring formula without Bruno Fornaroli against Adelaide.

Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce. Picture: AAP

Melbourne City will continue their search for a scoring formula without Bruno Fornaroli when they travel to Adelaide this weekend.

City have scored in just two of their past five matches. Last week against Perth, they troubled the league leaders but didn’t manage a shot on target.

Unfortunately for City, coach Warren Joyce reported no sign of the change in attitude he wants to see in his proven goalscorer.

“No, there’s been no difference,” Joyce said, adding he wouldn’t look to field the Uruguayan in City’s youth team, as he did with Curtis Good last month, saying he didn’t think “things like that help senior players”.

City must wait until next month’s transfer window to shop for a potential replacement for Fornaroli, so it’s up to Joyce’s next-gen brigade to find the goals. Riley McGree, whose form has put the 20-year-old in Socceroos’ Asian Cup calculations, 21-year-old Lachlan Wales and teenager Nathaniel Atkinson are likely to continue against Adelaide on Sunday.

Along with last-minute signing Kearyn Baccus, established names Rostyn Griffiths and Anthony Caceres have also been kept out of the side in line with Joyce’s training-first mantra.

“We’ve got competition for places and other players have done better than (Caceres),” he said of the Manchester City loanee.

“He’s had a chance to show what he can do so far this season and other people, the emergence of Lachie Wales or Riley McGree or Nathaniel Atkinson, they’ve done better.

“You want competition for places, don’t you.”

Joyce said Frenchman Florin Berenguer was unlikely to be seen until the new year with a calf injury.

Osama Malik might get some game time in Adelaide, while Ritchie De Laet is a wait-and-see proposition after locking his knee twice last week.

“We’ll look at everybody after training,” Joyce said.

Meanwhile, Andrew Durante reckons Wellington Phoenix have found a new level, describing their upset of Sydney FC as the New Zealand side’s best-ever win on the road.

Phoenix captain Durante spent the week trying to keep his team grounded after they stunned the Sky Blues 3-1.

Complacency isn’t normally a problem for the Kiwi outfit but it’s a potential threat this week ahead of Saturday’s home match against the last-placed Central Coast Mariners, who arrive with five straight losses to their name.

Durante was satisfied focus wouldn’t be an issue and allowed himself to reflect on a memorable outing at Jubilee Stadium in which they unlocked what had been the competition’s best defence three times in the opening half. The 294-game veteran couldn’t remember a better display across the Tasman.

“Not that I can think of, against such a strong team that’s performed so well for the last couple of years,” Durante said.

“For us to do that, it gives us a lot of confidence, a lot of belief in ourselves and what we’re doing.”

Durante saw the performance coming after his team had the better of the previous week’s 1-1 draw with leaders Perth Glory.

He is convinced the three straight losses before that were growing pains as they bedded in the fundamentals of coach Mark Rudan’s style.

“It definitely feels like we have gone to another level,” he said. “I feel like we’re on the front foot a lot more now and making it difficult for the opposition.

“We’ve got a game plan for Central Coast and if we can execute it like we have over the last couple of weeks, then it should be three points for us.”

AAP